Data Justice

Information, analytics and computing for social change

Introduction

Data Justice (DJ) provides students an opportunity to interrogate the biases that are built into information collection, design, and analysis. Students explore how specific values are coded into datasets, algorithms, AI-driven systems, machine learning models, and other sociotechnical systems. They gain advanced data-related skills that will serve them in a wide variety of careers that aim to make the world a better place through information.

By the conclusion of the program, students will be able to:

• Employ justice-centered approaches to equitable computer and data sciences;
• Analyze how cultural values, power, and privilege are encoded into technologies;
• Critique the sociopolitical values of data structure and algorithmic design;
• Analyze ways that computing and data science have been used as a catalyst for positive social change; and
• Develop a computing identity that intersects with personal identity factors.

DJ Scholars is brand new this year. The program is sponsored by the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies (INFO), a top-ranked research and teaching college in the field of information science. 

At INFO, faculty, staff, students, and partners are expanding the frontiers of how information and technology are accessed and used in a rapidly evolving world. We are combining principles of information science with cutting-edge technology to foster access to information, improve information interfaces, and expand how information is used in an evolving world.

Throughout all of our endeavors, INFO is committed to utilizing information and technology for good – to connect communities, empower individuals, and create opportunities.

Colloquium and Lecture Topics

• How do you use information?
• What is the info you need to change the world?
• What has produced the digital divide?
• How are digital identities different from personal identities?
• How can we achieve information justice?